Know Thy Adversary

I recently posted a review of Adam by Ted Dekker in which I made some remarks about the author that, to some people, seemed to be a bit inappropriate. I have decided to clarify my standing on the darkness that is creeping into modern Christian fiction.

In a recent interview with Christianity Today and previously with Charisma, Ted Dekker was quoted as saying, “In order to fully understand the power of God, you must understand the darkness he conquered.”

I disagree.

And I’m not even going to try and use tact with this. If you disagree with me, feel free to leave a comment and GOOD REASONING behind your stance. In the meantime, let me tell you why Mr. Dekker needs to go back and read his Bible.

A) “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start…”

Ah yes, the garden. Glorious Eden, the literal paradise on earth, where man and woman dwelt in perfect harmony with their Creator and His creations. In this hallowed horticultural haven, there was a tree. You know the story. Snake gets smart. Snake beguiles woman. Woman eats of tree and tells husband, who is a moron, to eat as well. Husband eats and world is cursed. What you may have over read, is the name of the tree. THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL. Now, after God created the world, He said, in his immutable and infallibleness, IT IS VERY GOOD. So, the knowledge of good was already present. What was lacking? The knowledge of EVIL!!! So original sin was what… the acquisition of the knowledge of evil.

B) “Is it secret? Is it safe?”

What is the main premise behind exploring darkness in order to bring glory to God? Basically, that it’s safe to explore the darkness. NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! If anyone ever tells you that, you better ask for your money back because their trying to sell you something that’s complete bull. Two Biblical examples. There were the seven sons of Zebedee who tied to cast out a demon which then attacked them and pulled of their clothes and sent them crying to their daddy. They had used the name of Jesus to try and cast the demons out. The second example is in Matthew when a child is brought to Jesus’ disciples, WHO HAVE ALREADY BEEN COMISSIONED AND EMPOWERED TO CAST OUT DEMONS, and who could not cast it out. They went to Jesus and part of his reply was that there are some demons who only come out with prayer and fasting. The main point I’m trying to make is that even with the name of Jesus, which does cause the demons to tremble, you are still not safe when you enter their dominion, and if you are doing actual spiritual warfare to take their dominion you better not be doing it alone. Is it safe then to explore the dark knowledge if you have to go into his domain to obtain it?

C) “This is you brain. This is your brain on drugs.”

Now, some would say “I’m not going to go and interview Satanists or Wiccans” or “I’m not going to do research on the devil, all I want to do is explore the idea of evil in the safe context of a book/film/play/etc.” But here’s the problem. Even if you don’t go into the devil’s domain you are still at risk. The reason is that when you “explore” the enemy in a book or film, you have to inadvertently begin to focus on the darkness. This is essentially what Dekker is doing and why I have a problem with his works. Peretti does address the enemy and actually show a very deep understanding of the ways of the light and darkness but he does it all while still focusing on the light. Internally this is how you work: you focus on something. The something begins to fill your heart, if you’ll let it, which is hard to control with books because their whole purpose is to full your heart. Then, with your heart filled with this, your mind begins to dwell on it, your words begin to echo it, and eventually is has become an obsession. An idol. Now, many people will just dismiss that as a slippery slope mentality but its true. The Bible speaks volumes about your heart and how it is connected to your mind, your actions, your words, the things that are dear to you, the things you are focusing on, etc, and how we should guard it. The Bible also speaks volumes about guarding our eyes, and in this sense, our focus. We are to put our eyes on things that are above, things that are godly and good, to focus on running our race, pressing towards God, seeking His will, following His Word. Our mind, our heart, our focus, is important. The devil wants it because with it he can get our worship. And that’s why exploring the darkness never brings glory to God.

D) “Much fear I sense in this one.”

The final point I have to make regards fear. The enemy wants to do one thing and that is to bring fear into your life, because it will eat you up and consume you. Fear breeds doubt and unbelief. Fear causes rash actions and decisions, and leads to even worse consequences. Fear is a festering petridish of potential sin, suffering, and destruction, the perfect antithesis of love.

First of, the entire idea of exploring/understanding the darkness is meant to show God’s glory and strength in overcoming it, I understand the logic behind it. However, the Bible talks in great detail about giving footholds for the enemy, opening doors for the enemy, allowing the enemy to build strongholds, and giving him room to work in your life. Make no mistake, when you begin to look at the enemy in closer detail, you are opening a door for fear. That’s why scary movies and horror novels are so destructive to a healthy individual’s spiritual life. It grieves the Holy Spirit because you are inviting an unclean spirit into your life.

Second, what makes you think you are even reaching the goal of making God greater by making the enemy seem powerful? If you give the enemy room to appear powerful, then you have to realize he will use it. He will make himself appear stronger than he really is, especially to Christians who are new in their faith or to those who have some kind of opening in their armor for the devil to access their lives. The devil wants one thing: to destroy us. If he can get us to somehow believe he is greater, stronger, or more powerful than God, or even on the same level for that matter, he can destroy us, our faith, and our love. New believers and those who are spiritually immature do not have roots as deep as ours and cannot withstand the same level of demonic warfare. As a Christian author we are placed in a very precarious position because we must make sure we do not cause our brethren or sisteren to stumble because of our actions, and we must realize not everyone is on our level.

And with that, I am now exhausted and in need of sleep. If I remember anything else that I wanted to add I’ll let you know.